During the course
of STS 41-G, oceanographer Paul Scully-Power observed spiral eddies at
13 locations around the globe. Spiral eddies are probably the most fundamental
individual feature in ocean dynamics on the scale visible to orbiting
astronauts. This photograph was taken in the Mediterranean off the coast
of the Egyptian/Libyan border. It depicts a shear current, but the spirals
are unusual in that, rather than exhibiting apparently random patterns
as in slides #1 and #2,
they are aligned in a straight line or “street.” It is thought
this alignment in a street formation reflects that the spirals have only
just been created along the shear wall and have not had sufficient time
to interact with surrounding dynamic features to form a more random pattern.